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Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum

On September 1rst, 2011 Bacardi launched their new Oakheart Smooth Spiced Rum. As the name suggests, the Oakheart is an aged rum. The rums in the blend have been aged in charred oak barrels to give the rum an added depth of character and perhaps a bit of whiskey-like smokiness. I met the Bacardi Area Sales Manager at the Sherbrooke “Drink Like a Pirate” Rum Festival, and he arranged for me to receive a bottle of the Oakheart Spiced Rum to review on my website. For this review, three friends and I performed a side by side tasting comparing Brinley Gold Shipwreck Spiced Rum with the Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum and the standard-bearer for the spiced rum category, Captain Morgan’s Original Spiced. Each of these rums is built on the foundation of aging in American oak barrels, and each of these rums seems to walk the path of a vanilla and caramel rum accented by fragrant spices which compliment the rum but do not to dominate it.

Here is the result of my review of the Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum:

In the Bottle 4.5/5

The photo to the left shows off the new Oakheart bottle presentation. I like the textured bottle which is easy to grip, and I like the bold label. About the only thing I do not like is the metallic topper. If you look at the threads you can see that there is only two of them. When I received my bottle for review from Bacardi, I checked the cap and it had already loosened. The fill line was not low, so I know I did not lose any liquid but I am always unsettled by a loose cap, and this seems to happen much more often with these pressed on metallic caps than with plastic caps or corks.

In the Glass 8.5/10

I began my examination of the Oakheart rum with a look at its colour and consistency. The rum displays a golden amber colour, and when I tilted my glass and gave it a slow twirl, I noticed a thin sheen of liquid left on the side. Small legs developed and ran down back into the rum.

The nose from the glass does indeed have a light oaky accent with butterscotch, caramel, and a strong indication of vanilla also rising up into the breezes. I sense some light baking spices as well as a very light indication of dried fruit. When I allowed the glass to breathe, the vanilla notes deepened. I also begin to sense some maple in those breezes above my glass and some richer baking spices with nutmeg and cinnamon.

In the Mouth 51/60

The initial mouth-feel to the rum is quite creamy, and this creaminess serves to coat the palate allowing the flavours to linger. I taste a lot of vanilla, some nice rummy butterscotch and a little dollop of maple syrup. The rum has a bit of spicy heat as well, with some orange peel, cinnamon and cloves heating the palate, but only just a little. The oak seems a little lost in the spice when you sip the rum neat. I suspect it is adding to that orange peel zest flavour I noted, but it is hard to decide where the light spice flavours end and the oak begins.

Spiced rums are usually meant as mixing rums and so I wanted to try a couple of cocktail/bar drinks just to see how things tasted. The first cocktail I mixed was the Island Sunset (see recipe below). The result was a pleasant, slightly spicy cocktail that I found quite nice to sip.

Next I mixed a standard Spiced Rum and Cola with lots of ice. I have to admit that this relatively simple bar drink really surprised me. The spice really ‘popped’ on my palate with flavours of cinnamon, and baking spices making a very positive impression in the cola. In fact, I found myself mixing my Oakheart and Cola quite frequently over the next several days, and each time I was more impressed than the last.

In the Throat 12.5/15

The Oakheart finishes with a spicy pop of cinnamon and baking spices (kind of like the flavour of nice sticky cinnamon buns). The throat is heated by the spices but I do not really sense any burn or discomfort, and the palate is left with lingering aftertaste of vanilla and cinnamon. (Yumm!)

The Afterburn 9/10

In my side by side comparison’s of the Bacardi Oakheart, the Brinley Gold Shipwreck, and the Captain Morgan’s Original, I was very surprised at how similar each of the rums tasted neat, and with ice. And in fact, the Oakheart was not the preferred rum of the three when sampled in this manner. My friends and I all preferred the Brinley’s Gold Shipwreck when served neat with Captain Morgan’s Original and the Bacardi Oakheart being essentially too close to call. However, when mixed in cocktails, the Bacardi Oakheart was clearly the favourite of the three, and for the rest of the afternoon, it was the Oakheart, not the Brinley, nor the Captain Morgan that everyone was indulging in.

Afterwards, every time I sampled the Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum in my tasting room I became more and more impressed. Some spiced rums quickly lose their allure with me, but this was definitely not the case with the Oakheart. In fact each time I tasted the Oakheart Spiced Rum, I found myself increasing the scores just a little. This rum has a lot of character, and it adds real depth to cocktails and bar drinks.

I think Bacardi has a real winner here!

If you are interested in comparing more scores, here is a link to my other published Rum Reviews.

My Final Score is out of 100 and you may (loosely) interpret the score as follows:

0-25 A spirit with a rating this low would actually kill you.
26-49 Depending upon your fortitude you might actually survive this.
50 -59 You are safe to drink this…but you shouldn’t.
60-69 Substandard swill which you may offer to people you do not want to see again.
70-74 Now we have a fair mixing rum or whisky. Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79 You may begin to serve this to friends, again probably still cocktail territory.
80-84 We begin to enjoy this spirit neat or on the rocks. (I will still primarily mix cocktails)
85-89 Excellent for sipping or for mixing!
90-94 Definitely a primary sipping spirit, in fact you may want to hoard this for yourself.
95-97.5 The Cream of the Crop
98+ I haven’t met this bottle yet…but I want to.

Very loosely we may put my scores into terms that you may be familiar with on a Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal scale as follows:

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16 Responses to “Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum”

Judysaid

As most I never liked any of the commercial spiced rums. On a trip to Tortola BVI we stopped by the Callwood rum distillery, where after a tasting, I purchased their spiced rum. Problem is that you can only buy it on the island of Tortola;-(
I decided to try a bottle of the Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum and was pleasantly surprised. I still would like more of the Callwood but till I get back to Tortola the Bacardi will do. BTW try it with Raspberry Ice Tea.

Hanssaid

Became curious about the Oakheart after reading your review anx bought a bottle…I just r0tried it (neat, no ice or coke…) and yes, once again the review I readwhile tasting the stuff translates in words what my nose and palate are trying to tell me :-)
Smoothness,the flavlurof maple, oak and cinnamon and a bit of peppery heat in the beginning, no burning feeling afterwards and the vanilla/cinnamon flavour lingering on the palate minutes after tasting….can’t wait to try “Oak&Coke” after what you told about its great taste! Thanks again for the accuracy and clear writing !

I am glad my review helped you out. I have to be honest and say that I have no idea how the rum would work in a toddy, as I rarely make toddies. The Oakheart would however, make a great base for eggnog if that helps. :)

Okay, 85.5 points for Bacardi Oakheart. I have to disagree. You can’t rate Barcelo Imperial at 81.5 and BacOak at 85.5. I know that Barcelo probably is flavoured with additional sugar and whos knows whether that’s all but Oakheart? I have both of them at home and would never ever present Oakheart as a sipping rum. It does its job in some cocktails and sometimes can even replace a cheap whiskey in them. But when I tried to sip it I could only think of two words: Sugar and Artifical. Your Rating Scale implies that higher scores mean a higher sippability and as I said: Bacardi Oakheart is by far inferior to Barcelo Imperial in this discipline, don’t you agree a bit?

Patrick Halsteadsaid

Ditto on the negative vibes regarding Bacardi but, like others, I tried it after reading your review. Two points: Although a “spiced” rum, it is sufficiently different than many of the others and is relatively smooth (as advertised) while still having character. Second, as you noted, it begs to be mixed and seems less likely to rudely challenge one’s friends’ palates in that role.

SeldomSeensaid

Hey Chip – Just getting around to responding to your review on Oakheart.

Man,… I swore I’d never buy another Bacardi product after discovering fine sipping rums via the prodding of a close friend. They were a revelation to me on what a Rum can really be,… and what my palate was expecting a Rum to taste like back in the day. So now I LOVE RUM,….. mostly neat over a cube. But all I saw was Bacardi way back then,… and cheaper rums attempting to compete that I figured could only be worse (…and they weren’t things labeled Plantation, Diplomatico, Zacapa, El Dorado, Doorly’s etc., etc.) So Bacardi pretty much monopolized the market back then and put me off of Spirits altogether. It was all just Aviation fuel to my palate and in my mind. So for decades, beer and wine were pretty much the only things in my alcoholic beverage wheelhouse. And I could only despise Bacardi all the more for what they did to dampen my past culinary possibilities once I discovered REAL RUMS. And I am still harboring a considerable amount of animosity towards them….. Grrrrrrr.
Then along comes your review. I resisted, but my Rum buddy demanded we give the Oakheart a try once I showed him the review. Man, I am really getting tired of eating crow with my Rum. But for the money, I’ll have to say this inexpensive mixer has found it’s way into my galley. I still sneer at it though,… every time I reach for it. I hate Bacardi. Grrrrrrr!

Your story is remarkably similar to mine. It really was not that long ago that all you could find on the market in my locale was white rums, and dark rums which were really just white rums with caramel added. Anejo meant it had been in a barrel for a whopping 2 years, and even all of those were laden with caramel to make them look much older. My revelation came when I was looking for a really nice whisky to buy my brother-in-law. The shopkeeper asked why not a premium rum and I explained how there really was no such thing. So he gave me a sip of Flor de Cana 7 and Matusalem Gran Reserve 12 year solero. I have been hooked on good rum ever since.

Esterasaid

Great review the only thing i disagree with is under your oakheart and coke recipe, Oak and coke as Bacardi is marketing it, if you want to stick with how Bacardi is recommending to serve it i would take the lime out. Their market strategy is “no flipping lime”.

Gorgeous Bear ( GB )said

Dear Arctic Wolf, Thank you for a very thorough test review of Bacardi Oakheart.
I am very keen on the White Superior and was a bit unsure whether to buy a bottle.
You’ve convinced me that to get one would be a good idea.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
GB

Mikesaid

stumbled on your blog, thanks for the info! just picked up a 1L bottle to make spiced apple cider because they were out of Capt Morgans. I was worried since i’m serving a bunch of guests but after reading your post i’m actually excited to try this. I’ll try sipping neat / with ice tonight and give it a go. Thanks!